In Years Past

August 22, 2013

In 1913, the drought which had injured crops in this section considerably was broken the previous evening by a rain storm which was very welcome to all farmers. A worse storm this afternoon was not so welcome to The Journal office because of the fact that it interfered materially with the long distance telephone wires which were used between Jamestown and Buffalo. The home telephone line was temporarily put out of commission shortly after 2 p.m. in the afternoon. The Bell company maintained connections but the storm made the wires work badly. The rainfall in the afternoon would unquestionably be worth many thousands of dollars to farmers of this region.

On Sept. 18 in Albany, the judges of the court of appeals and the members of the senate would convene as a high court of impeachment to try the governor. This would be the first time in the history of the state that a trial of this kind had been held and the proceedings would be followed with deep interest by all of New York's people.

In 1938, the first annual field day of the Chautauqua County Deputy Sheriff's Association was held Saturday at the Greek Club in Celoron, with a large attendance of members, their families and guests which included D. Lawrence Carlson, Assemblyman Lloyd J. Babcock and Glenn W. Woodin. A softball game between the northern end of the county and the southern end team was the feature of the day. The northerners eked out a 4-3 victory over their opponents through the means of a sensational one-handed catch by Sheriff Roy L. Chadwick.

WPA employees would not be permitted to give further testimony in the ready-mixed concrete investigation being conducted in Jamestown by Corporation Counsel Rollin A. Fancher unless they received orders from WPA Administrator Harry Hopkins to do so, according to Fancher. This new development would seriously interfere with Fancher's proposal to determine the reason for a serious discrepancy between figures given by different witnesses as to the number of lineal feet of concrete poured on the Newland Avenue-Charles Street portion of the WPA repaving job.

In 1963, a boating mishap on Conewango Creek the previous afternoon brought a tragic ending to the partnership of two elderly area residents who, for many years, had shared the pleasures of fishing together. Clifford Castel Bennett, 70, of Robbins Hill Crossroad, Frewsburg, was drowned when the small rowboat from which he had been fishing, swamped, throwing him into the water. His companion, Royal Thayer, 70, of Frewsburg-Kennedy Road, was able to save himself by clinging to a fallen tree for more than two hours until his calls for help were heard.

Need for modern automatic equipment to "streamline" bookkeeping procedures at Jamestown General Hospital was underscored at the monthly meeting of the Hospital Board. Superintendent Mark W. Lyons reported that the newer of two machines had broken down and could no longer justify repair. Pending the acquisition of new equipment, the hospital was using a borrowed machine, he said. He described the "newer" machine as one which the hospital had been using since it was discarded by the city treasurer's office nearly 20 years ago.

In 1988, crowned queen and king of the city of Jamestown's Summer Playground program were Natalie Samuelson, 6, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Samuelson of 25 Delevan Ave., and Neil Conner, 7, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Conner of 959 White Hill Circle. The participants in the queen and king contest performed dance routines and skits.

Low temperature readings of 45 to 50 degrees were forecast for Western New York this night on the heels of readings that translated into frost in some areas overnight. Although it was still August, there was a late September chill in the air in the area. A Stockton resident reported having to scrape ice off her car's windshield before heading out for work on this morning. A Frewsburg man also reported frost in that community, with an accumulation of the white stuff on his lawn, car roof and windshield.